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CALIFORNIA Legislation
Cal. Pen. Code § 209
Kidnapping for gain or to commit robbery or rape; Punishment
(a) A person who seizes, confines, inveigles, entices, decoys, abducts, conceals, kidnaps, or carries away another person by any means whatsoever with intent to hold or detain, or who holds or detains, that person for ransom, reward, or to commit extortion or to exact from another person any money or valuable thing, or a person who aids or abets any such act, is guilty of a felony. When a person subjected to that act suffers death or bodily harm, or is intentionally confined in a manner that exposes that person to a substantial likelihood of death, the person, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life without possibility of parole. When no person subjected to that act suffers death or bodily harm, the person, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the possibility of parole.
(b)
(1) A person who kidnaps or carries away an individual to commit robbery, rape, oral copulation, sodomy, or any violation of Section 264.1, 288, 289, or former Section 262, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the possibility of parole.
(2) This subdivision shall only apply if the movement of the victim is beyond that merely incidental to the commission of, and increases the risk of harm to the victim over and above that necessarily present in, the intended underlying offense.
(c) When probation is granted, the court shall, except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served by a lesser penalty, require as a condition of the probation that the person be confined in the county jail for 12 months. If the court grants probation without requiring the defendant to be confined in the county jail for 12 months, it shall specify its reason or reasons for imposing a lesser penalty.
(d) Subdivision (b) does not supersede or affect Section 667.61. A person may be charged with a violation of subdivision (b) and Section 667.61. However, a person may not be punished under subdivision (b) and Section 667.61 for the same act that constitutes a violation of both subdivision (b) and Section 667.61.
Amendment History:
1976 Amendment:
(1) Designated the first and second paragraphs to be subds (a) and (b); (2) deleted “kidnaps or carries away any individual to commit robbery, or any person who” before “aids or abets” in subd
(a); and (3) substituted “who kidnaps or carries away any individual to commit robbery shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison” for “serving a sentence of imprisonment for life without possibility of parole following a conviction under Section 209 as it read prior to September 22, 1951, shall be eligible for a release on parole as if he had been sentenced to imprisonment” in subd (b).
1977 Amendment:
Amended subd (a) by (1) deleting “suffer death in cases in which any person subjected to any such act suffers death, or shall” after “conviction thereof shall”; and (2) adding “death or” before “bodily harm”.
1982 Amendment:
Amended subd (a) by (1) substituting “another” for “relatives or friends of such” after “to exact from”; and (2) adding “is intentionally confined in a manner which exposes such person to a substantial likelihood of death, or”.
1990 Amendment:
(1) Amended subd (a) by (a) substituting “another person” for “any individual” after “or carries away”; (b) substituting “that person” for “such individual” after “holds or detains”; and (c) adding the comma after “upon conviction thereof”; and (2) added subd (c).
1997 Amendment:
(1) Designated former subd (b) to be subd (b)(1); (2) amended subd (b) by adding (a) “, rape, spousal rape, oral copulation, sodomy, or rape by instrument in violation of Section 289,” in subd (b)(1); and (b) subd (b)(2); and (3) added subd (d).
2000 Amendment:
Substituted “sexual penetration” for “rape by instrument” in subd (b)(1).
2006 Amendment (ch 337):
(1) Amended subd (a) by (a) substituting “of those acts” for “such act” after (i) “aids or abets any”; and (ii) “person subjected to any”; (b) substituting the period for “, and” after “guilty of a felony”; (c) adding “he or she” after “Upon conviction thereof,”; and (d) substituting “if the victim does not suffer” for “in cases where no such person suffers” after “the possibility of parole”; and (2) amended subd (b) by (a) substituting “any violation of Section 264.1, 288, or” for “sexual penetration in violation of Section” after “oral copulation, sodomy, or”; and (b) adding “the” after “prison for life with”.
2006 Amendment (Prop. 83):
Amended subd (a) by (1) combining the former two sentences into one sentence by substituting“such act, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof,” for “of those acts, is guilty of a felony. Upon conviction thereof, he or she”; (2) substituted “such act” for “of those acts” after “subjected to any”; and (3) substituted “in cases where no such person suffers” for “if the victim does not suffer”.
2021 Amendment (ch 626):
Rewrote former (a) which read: “Any person who seizes, confines, inveigles, entices, decoys, abducts, conceals, kidnaps or carries away another person by any means whatsoever with intent to hold or detain, or who holds or detains, that person for ransom, reward or to commit extortion or to exact from another person any money or valuable thing, or any person who aids or abets any such act, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life without possibility of parole in cases in which any person subjected to any such act suffers death or bodily harm, or is intentionally confined in a manner which exposes that person to a substantial likelihood of death, or shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the possibility of parole in cases where no such person suffers death or bodily harm”; in (b)(1), substituted “A person” for “Any person”, “an individual” for “any individual”, deleted “spousal rape,” preceding “oral copulation” and substituted “289, or former Section 262” for “or 289”; substituted “When probation is granted” for “In all cases in which probation is granted” in (c); substituted “Subdivision (b) does not supersede” for “Subdivision (b) shall not be construed to supersede” in (d).
Source: LexisNexis